A is for Announcements
by sapphire blue-ruby red roses
Summary: It's years after the Giant War and all the prophecies that nearly killed them. Jason and the others have finally opened a new camp. Everyone is gathering for the opening, but Nico brings along an unexpected addition. Who is the little girl, and why does she look so familiar? one-shot, just something I wrote while bored in choir


**So, I typed this up during a blackout. I hope you guys understand exactly how much I love my readers because now my eyes hurt like hell from having to read pencil by weak candle light. Well, hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or the HoO characters! I do own Caterina though.**

**P.S. – This is the seventh story in a challenge I bestowed on myself a while ago where I have to decide on a prompt for each letter of the alphabet and then write a story/one-shot for each letter, hence the title. The first is "C is for Change", but that's a different fandom :P**

A is for Announcements

"Nico, hey dude, nice of you to make it!" Jason shouted exuberantly, throwing his arms around the still rather scrawny 22-year-old son of Hades. He hadn't yet noticed the small girl hanging onto the back of his friend's tattered aviator jacket, but she watched him intently with curious eyes. "It's good to see you again. How have you been?"

Everyone from Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, everyone who was still alive, which included Clarisse and Octavia, were gathering for the opening of the new camp. It was a camp that was both Greek and Roman, stationed between the two camps. It had taken the children of the Prophecy of Seven and Nico nearly eight years to get it open, but now that it was, demigods of both camps were wishing to live there.

Nico returned Jason's hug unselfconsciously. When he pulled back, he was actually smiling. The girl jerked on his jacket, demanding attention. "Good. Has everyone made it yet?" he asked, bending to pull the girl into his arms.

"Yeah," Jason said, his eyes widening as he got a good look at the girl. She had long, shaggy black hair that was nearly as thick as Hazel's, dropping to her waist. Wavy chunks brushed her forehead and framed her eyes, eyes that were vibrant, watchful sea green. She held tightly to a stuffed toy that looked suspiciously like Blackjack. "Uh, who is this? Is she your…" Jason trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"Daughter. She's my daughter. Her name is Caterina," Nico told him, grinning as he looked over at her, "Say hello Caterina." She waved, her face splitting into a grin that revealed two missing front teeth. "Do you know where Percy is?" He looked to Jason, letting Caterina slide to the floor.

"I'll go find him!" she shouted excitedly, determination burning in her eyes, racing away into the milling crowd.

"He's in the Fifth Armada cabin," Jason called to the young girl. There was a screech of surprise from a group of Aphrodite and Venus kids moving in that direction, so he figured she knew what she was doing. "She's got some spunk to her, doesn't she?" he asked, laughing lightly.

"You have no idea," Nico told him, moving away into the crowd, "I'm going to go make sure she finds him."

Jason caught Nico's arm, pulling him back. "I know I tell you this every time we see each other, but… you **have** to tell him. You can't go on like this. It makes me sad, and I can't help but feel you'd both be happier."

Nico watched him for a long, silent moment. Finally, he said, "That's not why we're sad."

"Have you already told him?" Jason asked, eyebrows rising in surprise, "I know you haven't told the others."

Sighing, Nico looked out over the crowd. "Many, many years ago. I haven't told the others many things."

"What? How did I not hear about this? I know you just said that you haven't told the others much of anything, but do any of them know?"

Nico shook his head. "Only Annabeth." They were silent for a long moment, Jason doing his best to understand this new information. "I better go find Caterina before she drenches someone or raises the dead or something." Nico was already moving off into the crowd, searching for an exit.

"Alright, well, we're all meeting around the campfire before the ceremony starts. See you there?"

Nico's small smile reappeared as he glanced over his shoulder. "We'll see you there." He slipped into the shadows between two Greek and Roman Apollo kids, and was gone.

…..

Jason, sitting across the fire from Piper and Annabeth, Frank on his left and Leo and Hazel to his right, asked, "Have you all seen Caterina, Nico's daughter?"

"Yes!" they all chorused with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"She's the most adorable little girl I've ever seen. I want my daughter to be just like her one day," Hazel cooed, grinning widely.

The fire flickered uncertainly, not sure which emotion is should be reacting to. "Does anyone know who her mother is?" he asked, eyes focusing on Annabeth who stared back at him with calculating storm grey eyes.

"No," the others chorused sadly, though Annabeth's mouth seemed sown shut. She hadn't opened it once since sitting on the ground in front of a log.

"Who else finds it weird that di Angelo, the most anti-social guy on the planet, save for Ares and my dad, had a kid before any of us?" Leo pointed out, "Honestly, how did he manage that? None of us even have a kid on the way, and he has a six-year-old."

"I was thinking that too. Her mother has to be someone we know, someone we met over six years ago at least. Caterina looks too familiar for her mother to be a random woman we've never met," Piper chimed in, earning nods from the surrounding group. Annabeth leaned back against her log, watching them speculate with no expression to be seen. "And the likelihood that he met someone on his own is, well." She shrugged, laughing quietly.

Before one of the others could put forth their idea, Percy broke the circle of light, a grin splitting across his face. His already mussed hair looked even messier than usual and his lips looked just the slightest bit swollen, but in the firelight, Jason couldn't tell if they truly were. "Hey, guys," he said, dropping down between Jason and Leo with a slap to their shoulders, "What are we talking about?"

"Caterina and Nico," Frank blurted out, reaching over to bump fists with him.

Jason, watching Percy closely, just caught how his friend's smile froze in place, and the flash of concern and something else he couldn't quite identify in his sea green eyes. Sea green… it couldn't be. It wasn't anatomically possible anyway, even if the pair had gotten together!

"Shouldn't you wait until Nico gets here to ask him questions?" Percy asked in that stiff way that was obvious because the person was trying to be casual. "So you don't get the wrong ideas?"

"Come on, man," Leo said, punching Percy in the arm, "Where would be the fun in that? Do **you** know anything?"

Percy forced a laugh, the fire sputtering with touches of black. He didn't have time to do anything else because Nico materialized out of the darkness behind them, wedging a leg between them and sliding into the slot. Catering clutched onto his chest like a baby monkey, giggling all the while.

Reaching out, she pleaded Percy imploringly with eyes the same color as him. Their eyes even sparkled the same. Nico watched them, a small smile tugging at the corners of his normally downturned mouth.

Annabeth scowled at the trio, and the others, save for Hazel, didn't seem to notice. Grinning, Hazel reached over and pushed her half-brother softly. "You never told me," she said accusingly, shaking his shoulder, "this is great!"

Nico grinned back. Leo caught that one.

"So," he said, leaning forward to play with the flames of the fire, "Who is the mother, di Angelo? The masses want to know."

Nico and Percy exchanged a quick glance that was definitely not missed by any of them. In that one look, an entire conversation transpired. Caterina stared up at them, leaning back, her arms clutching Percy's bicep.

Jason stepped in with a quick, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to. We're all just a little… curious." There had to be a better word, but it didn't matter now. He watched the trio intently while most other eyes were focused solely on Nico.

Piper's eyes jumped between Nico and Percy, wide with surprise. "Oh my Gods," she whispered, and pressed her cupped mouth to Annabeth's ear.

"I think it's about time we tell them, don't you?" Percy said.

Nico nodded, taking a deep breath. "Caterina's mother is Percy."

The group stopped breathing. Frank began laughing, staring at them. "That is not possible… in any way!" he shouted.

"Unless Percy has been hiding something from us all these years," Leo interjected, "You must be a great actor."

"Well, it is possible when Aphrodite thinks it'd be a great idea to switch your gender," Percy said nonchalantly, bouncing Caterina on his knee.

"Smooth," Nico sighed, stabbing his elbow into Percy's ribs.

"But… when did that happen?" Jason asked, brain feverishly working to find a timespan that would fit, "When did you have time to be pregnant, and change into a girl? And raise this girl for six years?"

"You know when I disappeared for a year because I was going dark?" Percy asked, earning nods from everyone who hadn't known beforehand. Annabeth still looked royally pissed, but her expression was slowly softening. "Well, Nico found me, that was when he disappeared for a year plus. He brought me back from the dark, reminding me that there was in fact still good in the world. He gave me something to live for."

"Ironic," Leo said, laughing at his own joke. Hazel elbowed him. "Oh, and can you not be gushy? It's disturbing.

Piper rolled her eyes. "What about raising her? We never saw either of you with a child or together at one time for that matter," she piped up, pursing her lips as her brain provided the answer for her moments later, "Oh, never mind. I know how."

"I don't," Frank and Jason said together.

"We switched off and on. When Percy was gone for long hours to days, or I wouldn't appear for weeks on end? That's where we were. And Percy's mom helped out a lot when we went to school," Nico explained, grabbing Caterina's sides, making her screech with laughter.

"You guys have to remember, we didn't live at Camp Half-Blood or Camp Jupiter for most of the year. We were living in New York with Mom and Paul," Percy grunted as Caterina propelled herself back into his stomach.

Hazel looked between the trio and Annabeth. "That's why you and Percy broke up, isn't it? You knew the whole time," she said, eyes trained on one of her best friends.

"They told me. They had me come to the hospital right after the birth and admitted everything to me. They hadn't even finished cleaning Caterina off," Annabeth said, slowly sitting up. Her face had gone back to being expressionless, but a happy light twinkled in her eye.

"Wow. Is genderbent Percy hot?" Leo asked, glancing at her with a smirk.

The group groaned. "Leo!" Hazel snapped, providing him with a well applied brain duster.

"I have pictures," Nico said nonchalantly, examining his nails, "And not all of them with clothes."

"Show me!" Leo cried, grabbing Nico's arms, shaking him violently.

"Calm down, Valdez!" Nico shouted back, "You're starting to smoke! I don't want my daughter to be scarred so early on in life!"

Caterina scrambled into a standing position on Percy's knees. "I'll help!" Suddenly Leo was drenched, dropping off into stunned silence. Nico and Hazel at his sides, who had been splattered, started laughing.

"Come here, you little hippocampi," Leo growled playfully, lunging towards her. Caterina let out a delighted screech, jumping from lap to lap, Leo chasing her around the fire.

Jason reached over Percy to Nico as Caterina crossed his lap again, punching him in the shoulder. "See, didn't I tell you they'd be fine with it? Like years ago?"

"Shut up," Nico snapped without venom, "My sexuality is **not** what this conversation is about!"

"It is now!" Jason laughed, pulling up his arms in defense as Nico aimed a punch at his chest.

"No fighting on my watch!" Percy shouted, grabbing the front of Nico's shirt and pulling him in for a very unchaste kiss.

Caterina's nose scrunched up in disgust as she cried, "Ew!" while the others cheered, clapping. Dropping his arms, Jason just laughed harder.

Annabeth caught Caterina around the waist, laughing and grinning into her mess of onyx hair. Smiling wide and happier than she had been in a long while, she said, "That's all I wanted. Everything is good now."

Grabbing the back of Leo's shirt, Hazel jerked him to a stop. "I guess now would be a good time to announce that I'm pregnant," she said without delay.

There was only a heartbeat of silence before Jason laughed through his nose, pressing his hand to his forehead. "It's a good thing we already have a celebration planned today, or we'd all get fat from everything we'd be eating."

"Today is just a good day to party," Percy said, standing, "So let's get this party started!" With cheers of agreement, they all disappeared into the darkness, leaving the fire to crackle with a rainbow of colors.

**Well, there you go. Hope you liked it. This is a one-shot so there **_won't_** be a sequel. I was having a hard time finding a place to end this, so I hope the ending wasn't utterly suck-ish. Reviews would be much appreciated!**


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